


Hogan's Twist

by Mrs_Spooky



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: Gen, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-19
Updated: 2010-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6785218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Spooky/pseuds/Mrs_Spooky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stolen bounty head and a daycare center plague the bounty hunters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Very profitable week! The bounties were plentiful and they were retrieved with very little trouble. Jet was pleased. This has to be the best week he's had since he bought the Bebop. They've had a dry spell or two, but he'd managed to conserve the funds so they never ran out of what they need. All that can change though, as he well knew.

Jet sat in the chair in the living area with his latest acquisition sitting on the table in front of him, studying it. With the little extra he had, Jet had picked up a new bonsai that had had very little done with it. He bargained the vendor down to a very satisfactory price. With the patience of a master, he turned it this way and that, studying its form, its potential.

"You gonna start cutting that or what?"

"These things can't be rushed."

Spike was lounging across from him on the sofa, expertly shuffling a deck of cards, watching him with his bonsai. Jet looked up over his newest bonsai to see his partner grinning mischievously at him. He shook his head and went back to his study.

The vid screen was on, Big Shot was supposed to start in a few minutes. Spike couldn't get enough of that show. They had gotten a few leads off of it, actually a bounty, so it wasn't a complete waste. Jet suspected Spike watched it more for the pneumatic hostess, Judy. Blonde, blue-eyed and scantily clad, she breathlessly hung on Punch's descriptions of the latest of the wanted.

This particular episode had a line on a good one, Jack Hogan. Six million woolong bounty, wanted by local Europa authorities for robbery. Last seen on Mars. "Good luck!" Judy ended the show cheerily.

Spike moved his foot slightly and shut off the screen. They had been cruising the asteroid belt for the last month - for some reason the bounty heads figured they'd be safe there. Many of them discovered how wrong they were. "Think we can find him? He must have a record, there has to be some way of knowing where on Mars he'd go."

Jet thought about it a bit. "I WAS friendly with some of the local police on Europa, built up some relationships." Sliding the bonsai aside, he turned the terminal around and started typing. He found Hogan's record and found that he had skipped bail in Roma, one of Europa's largest cities. He knew a few cops there that might talk to him.

He looked up the number and dialed. While waiting for the connection he glanced up at his partner who was laying the cards out in a game of solitaire.

"Detective Jack Brown here."

"Hey Brown! How's it going?" 

"Black, you old dog you! How the hell are ya?" The two men chatted. Yes, it's been a long time, sorry I didn't keep in touch, things have been busy and time gets away from you.

"So Black, what can I do for you? After all this time you must have a reason for calling" he said with a smile.

Jet grinned "Jack Hogan. There's a bounty on him and word is he was last seen on Mars. Know anything about him?" 

He did. "Small-timer, mostly petty thief. Got hooked up with a gang called Seventh Ring several months ago, kind of syndicate wannabes. They've been implicated in some shootings, a couple of bombings. Nothing we can prove though." Brown punched up some information on his terminal.

Brown went on, "Yeah. His mother lives in Guangxi, equatorial region on Mars. If he's on Mars, he might be with her. Name of…. Margaret. Margaret Chao. Husband's name is Lin. Ex wife named Mary Hogan. Runs a daycare center in Roma, north end of town."

"Thanks Brown, I owe ya one." 

Brown laughed "Bring the guy back so I can collect. This earned me at least dinner."

After they disconnected, Jet looked up a Margaret Chao in Guangxi. There were six. Two of them had husbands named Lin. Looked up the Margarets' previous names in the tax rolls and found her. They had an apartment on the east side of town. He wrote down the address. Jet switched off the terminal and sat back, satisfied.

Spike was seemingly engrossed in his solitaire game. Jet smiled, "So what do you think, partner?"

Spike smiled "Let's go to Mars."

*******

Guangxi is a small city and doesn't have a large enough 'sea' to land the Bebop. Jet left the ship in orbit, taking the Hammerhead down to collect Hogan. He wanted Spike to keep an eye on the ship, still not wanting him on Mars. Next time. Jet wondered if he was being overprotective of his partner.

Landing the Hammerhead in a public lot not far from Hogan's mother's apartment, he walked the half mile to the front door. It was late afternoon and people were just getting home from work.

There was a bench across the street where he could see the door, so he had a seat and lit a cigarette. He was starting to wish he had brought Spike with him. He could knock on the door with some pretext and maybe take a look inside. Spike would be a lot less conspicuous than he is - and less likely to frighten whoever answered the door. He sighed.

After about an hour, Jet was about to get up to walk around a little bit when Hogan's mother's door opened and she appeared with Hogan. They hugged and kissed each other. Looked like he was saying goodbye. She went back in the apartment, Hogan turned left and hurried away, pulling out his communicator. Jet rose quickly and fell into step behind him, cuffs in hand. He closed the distance and quickly snapped the cuff on him, the man whirled, swinging. Jet caught that one too and deftly closed the other cuff onto it.

Hogan started yelling, but the hand clamped over his mouth killed any noise. "Should I knock you out? I can carry you back if I have to. Your choice."

The struggling bounty head went limp. Jet patted him on the shoulder. "Good boy. Let's go." Jet was ushering him back towards the Hammerhead and of course Hogan was trying to bargain with him. 

"Look, I need to get a message to my ex wife, it's important! You have to let me go, I'm sick and need treatment. I'll die without it."

Yeah, yeah yeah, heard it a thousand times before. All lies.

"We'll talk about it on the way to Europa."

He had gotten Hogan within sight of the Hammerhead, when there was a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me…" Jet turned to look and the lights went out.

*******

Jet's eyes opened. What the hell! Checking the time on his communicator he found that he had been flat on his back for at least 10 minutes. DAMN. He dragged himself to his feet and looked around. He was alone. Figures. Rubbing his jaw, he made tracks to the Hammerhead and took off, racing back to the Bebop. Spike was there waiting as soon as he came out of the landing bay. "Where's Hogan?"

Jet didn't stop, just headed to the bridge. "Remember that guy that shot you on New Orlando? Tried to grab Cronaz? HE happened!"

"HUH???"

Spike followed him to the bridge as Jet punched in the course for Europa, fastest possible speed. "Jerry Otero. Wannabe bounty hunter. Most of the bounties he brings in were snatched from the people who actually caught them." He sighed grimly, "He's already killed two bounty hunters that I know of. You got lucky."

Spike scowled, "How do we find him? We know he's going back to Europa with Hogan, but he could be anywhere."

"Otero is a creature of habit. I did some checking up on him, he's originally FROM Europa, and he has a favorite police station that he uses. I don't know if we can beat him there, but we might be able to catch up with him before he turns him in. GODDAMMIT"

They were a full day and a half away from Europa at that speed. Jet filled Spike in on Otero's habit of shooting bounty hunters and snatching their catches, or at the very least knocking them out and taking the bounty for himself. So far he's gotten away with it, mostly because the bounty hunters he's robbed haven't caught up with him yet. Spike listened with growing disgust. _I still owe him for New Orlando_ he thought. _And now Jet._  
The Bebop approached Europa, Jet putting her in a parking orbit while the two jumped in their own personal craft and made haste to the police station that Jet identified as Otero's favorite. _Let's HOPE he's a creature of habit like Jet said!_

They reached the station house, Jet checking the kiosk in the lobby. Hogan had not been turned in yet. Nobody knew what kind of spacecraft Otero was flying, so they couldn't hunt for that. He couldn't have beaten them by too long, and he hasn't turned the guy in yet, so he must be somewhere in the area. Spike was dubious, but lacking any better ideas at the moment, he waited with him, out of sight, a few blocks from the station. It was fairly early in the morning in that part of Europa and people were just starting out to work There were a few people out and about, but there was still an hour or so to go before it got busy.

They didn't wait too long when Spike spied a familiar figure leaving a nearby pharmacy… walking AWAY from the police station. He nudged Jet and pointed. Following his partner's gesture, Jet confirmed that it was indeed Otero. The two left their concealment and started after him, wondering where the hell he was going… without Hogan.

They caught up with him a few blocks later, Jet reaching him first. Shoving Otero from behind, he forced him into a short alleyway between two buildings. Otero dropped the bag he was carrying and whirled to face his attacker. Seeing Jet he smiled. "Hey Black, howya doin'?"

That's about all he got out before Jet swung and knocked him down, relieving him of his gun. Grabbing him by his shirt, he hauled Otero to his feet, "Ok, where's Hogan? I caught him, he's MY bounty!"

Otero just laughed. "Like I'm gonna tell YOU? Face it, you couldn't keep him, he's mine now." Then he laughed, "What are you gonna do? Once a cop always a cop, and I know you're not going to hurt me. You don't scare me."

Jet swung again, catching Otero in his midsection. The man was doubled over, retching. "I'm gonna ask you one more time. What did you do with him? We know you haven't turned him in."

While Jet was tuning up Otero, Spike bent and picked up the stuffed bag that was dropped and looked inside. There were bottles of prescription medication. A LOT of them. "You stocking a hospital here, Otero?" he asked.

The bruised Otero finally noticed Jet's companion. Recognition hit his face, "Oh yeah, you're the one that bitch-slapped me on New Orlando. You guys didn't even turn Cronaz in, what the fuck is wrong with you idiots?"

"Who's the medicine for, Otero?" Jet was seriously concerned now. Otero was not only incompetent, he was clumsy as well. Hogan did say he was sick and needed treatment, maybe he was telling the truth.

"Fuck off! You assholes can't do shit to me. You know it. I know it. He's my bounty now and you can't have him!"

Spike considered his words for a moment. "Jet."

"Hmmm?" 

"Didn't we pass a donut shop just now?"

Jet smiled, "Yes we did - a couple blocks back."

Spike had turned to face Otero squarely. Pulling out a cigarette, he said, "I'm getting kinda hungry. Mind grabbing me a donut? Biggest one they have."

Otero snorted "Oh what, you boys gonna play 'good cop bad cop' with me? That ain't gonna work. I'll let the bastard die before I turn him over to you."

_Ok, let's see what he's got planned._ "Sure thing. I could use something to eat myself. I'll be right back." 

"No hurry" Spike said smoothly.

Chuckling, Jet clapped Otero on the shoulder and turned to leave. He glanced at Spike on his way out and saw that he was staring intently at their assailant through the smoke of the cigarette he just lit. He turned the corner and stood up against the wall, out of sight, listening. _Gotta trust him. He knows what he's doing_ he thought, hoping he knew his partner well enough to leave him alone with Otero.

Otero straightened up, leaning against the wall behind him, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand. He sneered at the young man facing him. "What, you gonna kick me in the face again?" He spat.

"You've got Jet all figured out, don't you?" 

"Hell yeah! Once a cop, always a cop, he won't do anything illegal or permanent. I can take whatever he dishes out. You too."

Reaching into his back pocket, Spike pulled out a knife with a six inch blade. He tossed it up in the air and caught the tip. Tossed it again and caught the hilt. Grimly he said, "Yeah, you know all about Jet. But you don't know SHIT about me."

Thwack!!

With lightning speed he threw the knife at Otero's head, catching the man's collar, affixing it to the wall behind his head. Otero's eyes bulged. Reaching into another pocket, Spike pulled out another knife, chuckling.

"See, I was never a cop. Come to think of it, I just MET Jet a few months ago. HE doesn't know much about me either."

Thwack!!

The blade embedded itself in the wall, a fraction of an inch from Otero's eye. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, ran down his cheek, then joined the sweat on his chest. He was despising the look on the kid's face. He could swear he was looking at the face of a stone cold, hardened killer.

The young bounty hunter found another blade and balanced the tip on the tip of his finger. "So, where's Hogan? That's all we need to know. Just take us to him and you're free to go. Unharmed."

Mustering up he last of his courage, "FUCK YOU!"

Seriously pissed, Spike's voice rose "Jet's not here. It's just you… and me. You are seriously trying my PATIENCE!"

Thwack!!

The blade hit he wall along the other side of Otero's face JUST missing his eye, this one drawing blood. _Holy fuck, this little shit's serious!_ Otero could hear himself start to whimper.

Threatening, Spike approached him and stuck his face into Otero's. "There's nobody here who's going to protect you. All ya gotta do is tell me where Hogan is. If I get pissed enough, I'm likely to miss," he hissed.

Otero just sputtered. Turning, Spike took a few steps away, then whirled.

Thwack!!

This one caught Otero along the neck, cutting him slightly. Spike considered the growing wetness spreading from the man's groin and running down his legs, soaking his socks, pooling on the pavement at his feet. He reached into his breast pocket and displayed the four pointed blade he brought with him. Spike allowed himself a cackle.

"Ever see one of these? It's called a hira-shuriken. One of my favorite toys," he purred, caressing the blade and showing his teeth in an expression that wasn't so much a grin as a snarl.

By now Otero was crying, terrified of the maniac facing him.

"I want to know where Hogan is right now or you're gonna lose an eye! PICK ONE! LEFT OR RIGHT?" He wound up to throw...

Screaming, "26 VIA DELLAGIO! HOTEL RIALTO, ROOM 202!! PLEASE GOD NO!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blade to pierce his eyeball. Silence. He heard the young maniac approach him and grab his face, squeezing his cheeks together.

"LOOK AT ME!!" he spat.

The man opened terrified eyes and looked into eyes that didn't match and nearly fainted.

"Now was THAT so hard? One more thing. You don't EVER want me getting wind that you're stealing bounties again, got that? If I find out you're stealing bounties, we're gonna have another chat, and I won't be so pleasant." 

"YES, YES, ANYTHING YOU SAY!!"

Spike yanked the blades out of the wall and secreted them back into their sheathes. Otero was sobbing, "Anything you say, just don't kill me."

Jet chose that moment to appear. Spike grabbed Otero by the back of his neck and pushed him towards Jet, eyeing his empty hands, "Where's my donut?"


	2. Chapter 2

Spike grabbed the fallen bag of medicine and followed Jet and the still blubbering Otero back to the hotel. It was only a few blocks away in a cheap hotel that rented rooms by the hour. They reached the room and opened the door and found Hogan sprawled on the bed. Otero bolted. Cursing under his breath, Jet rushed into the room then bent over Hogan, checking his pulse.

He was still alive, but barely. He turned to Spike, who already had his communicator out calling an ambulance. Jet asked him to also call the authorities to let them know they had Hogan - JUST in case he makes it to the hospital. The cops can take custody there and they'd still get the bounty. Hanging up from the emergency dispatcher, Spike called the local police station to let them know that they had Hogan, but he was sick and the ambulance was on its way. Gave the address then hung up.

Hogan had opened his eyes. The whites were yellow as was his skin. Jet groaned. "End stage liver failure." This guy's a goner. There was nothing anyone could do to save him, he just hoped he'd stay alive long enough to collect the eight million woolongs on him. What the HELL was that idiot Otero DOING??

Hogan's mouth opened and started working, trying to talk. Jet shushed him, telling him to conserve his strength. The bounty head just shook his head "Mary... child care center... must warn... danger... kids...." then breathed his last.

Jet looked over to Spike who was looking out the window waiting for the ambulance to appear. Spike returned the look, Jet just shook his head. Sighing, he covered the man's head with the sheet as the sounds of sirens approached.

***

Leaving the hotel after giving statements to the cops, the bounty hunters headed dejectedly towards their respective crafts to return home. "What did he say to you, anyway?" Spike asked.

"Something about a Mary and a child care center. Warn her about danger and kids." The two men stopped.

"Didn't Brown say his ex wife's name was Mary? She runs a daycare center on the north end of town?" Jet nodded. They were going to have to get the name of the place, preferably an address. Jet wanted to check from the terminal on the Hammerhead, as it was only a few blocks away. 

Jet's curiosity got the better of him. He could only half hear what was going on in that alley "What the hell did you do to Otero?"

"Scared the piss out of him."

"No seriously. How did you do it?"

Spike stopped and fished out a cigarette. Lighting it, he shrugged, "I just showed him a crazy nip with a knife. Guess he didn't like that." 

Jet chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good job." 

Jet climbed into the Hammerhead and punched up information about daycare centers in Roma, focusing on the north end of town. There were two, but one operated by a Mary Hogan. Spike had climbed up on the Hammerhead's body. He leaned his elbows on the hatch to the pod, watching over his shoulder. "Makes me wonder what he was into, that he thought his ex wife and the kids would be in danger."

Jet sighed "Well, he WAS a thief. Maybe he robbed the wrong person." 

"Maybe his ex wife will know more?" 

The daycare center was several miles northeast from where they had landed, and neither one of them was inclined to chance public transportation, so it was decided to fly to a location closer to the center. Spike followed Jet to a lot a few blocks from Hogan's ex wife's daycare center and landed his Swordfish nearby. The two climbed out of their pods and locked them up. The workday had started and parents had dropped their children into the care of the staff at Mary Hogan's daycare center. It was a brick building that stood on its own in between a laundromat and a grocery store. There was an elementary school across the street. Good location, thought Jet. They were close to a source of supplies and kids at the school with working parents had some place to go while waiting for parents to finish work. 

Heading up the walk towards the door, Jet noticed that Spike had stopped. Turning, he asked what was the matter. Spike sighed, frowning. He spat out the cigarette he had just finished and ground it out, 

"Rugrats." 

"Huh?" 

He sighed again, "Rugrats. Nothing but trouble." 

Jet was surprised. "Well shake it off. We need to find out what Hogan was worried about here, they may be in serious trouble." 

Scowling, Spike shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Jet into rugrat central.

***

Mary Hogan had her hands full. One of her staffers had called in sick that day, leaving her with only two people and a high school kid to help with the children in her care. She wasn't helped by the fact that the children were especially rambunctious that day. It was only ten in the morning and she felt ragged. The income she was bringing in wasn't keeping up with her expenses either.

The buzzer at the front door sounding a visitor interrupted the brooding that was setting in again. Sighing, the petite blonde made her way to the entry area. Opening the door, she found two men waiting for her, grim-faced. "Yes, may I help you?"

The big guy spoke, running his hand over his bald head, "Mrs Hogan?"

"Yes, that's me."

"My name's Jet Black. This is my partner, Spike Spiegel. We have news about your husband."

"EX husband."

The man sighed. "I'm afraid he's dead. Didn't know if anyone had called to tell you, but we thought we should let you know."

Mary closed her eyes briefly. She knew his days were numbered, but it always does catch you by surprise. "How do you know him? Was he a friend of yours?" she asked warily.

The two men looked at each other, the younger man spoke, "We're bounty hunters ma'am. We were bringing him in. He didn't make it." 

"He said something just before he died," Jet added. "He said he had to warn you. Something about you and the kids being in danger. Do you know anything about that?"

She sighed. "No. He said yesterday that he had to talk to me, sounded urgent, I don't know why. Now we'll never know."

The younger man spoke, "Do you mind if we have a look around? We heard that he was involved with some nasty characters and he wanted to warn you of something. Maybe we should check it out."

She hesitated, thinking. "Well, I guess it won't hurt. This way."

***

The two bounty hunters followed her into the daycare center. It was a bright, airy place, walls covered with colorful murals of cowboys, spacemen, unicorns, rainbows. There were kid-sized tables and chairs set up on one side of the room with arts and crafts supplies stored neatly in shelves along one wall. A door led to what looked to be the back storage and office area. It was a clean place, but it had the smell of sour milk, paste and used diapers that was inevitable when you have a number of small children around. Jet thought it smelled like children. Spike thought he was going to be ill.

There were two other women and a high school kid working with Mary Hogan who looked up at the two strange men entering their domain. The kids, ranging in age from one to eight years old saw the strangers, stopped what they were doing and gawked. A couple of the girls started giggling. 

Jet turned to Mary and suggested taking the kids across the street to the playground at the school. "Would they let you use it?" 

She thought about it, "We have a playground out back. But I can't imagine they'll object if we use it for an hour or so. It's pretty open to the neighborhood kids. What are you looking for?"

Not wanting to alarm her unduly, Jet said they just wanted to make sure nobody hid anything they should be concerned about. He turned and looked, but Spike had vanished into the back room. Sighing, he waited until the adults had ushered the children outside to the playground, Mary staying behind to keep an eye on the strange men.

_This is as good a place to start as any_ Jet thought, so he began examining the undersides of the tables, not really expecting to find anything there. 

"It would help if you'd tell me what you're looking for," Mary said crossing her arms. 

"Anything that looks like it doesn't belong."

She started checking the cabinets and shelves where the arts and craft supplies were kept for easy reach. Nothing out of the ordinary there. The two of them made short work of the main room, then headed out to check the waiting area.

"Where's your friend?" 

"He's checking the back rooms. What's back there?"

"My office. There is a main storage room where we keep most of our supplies. Food, diapers, paper products. The bathroom is back there too."

A search of the the reception area turned up nothing. Jet turned to head back to the storage area to give Spike a hand when he heard a shout from the direction of the office. 

**"BOMB!!!!!"**

Jet grabbed Mary and rushed her to the door when the concussion of the blast knocked them both halfway to the street.


	3. Chapter 3

Tiring of the conversation in the play area - AND wanting to get away from all that sweetness, Spike decided to start checking the office and storage area. He wasn't bothered by not having permission to do so. _She can throw us out if she wants._ From the office he heard Jet suggesting they send the kids to the playground across the street. Good thinking! There's no telling if one of Hogan's associates would want to bomb the place, but just in case, it's best if the little rugrats were at least across the street. Spike wasn't even sure they WOULD bomb the place - there are other dangers, but since the gang has been implicated in bombings, they could at least try to eliminate the possibility of that threat.

Opening file cabinet drawers and looking inside, Spike realised he was still pissed off about Otero. He had to spend the same time and energy as other bounty hunters to find the bounty heads, why not just grab them himself? Spike decided the guy was just a bully and got what was coming to him. If it wasn't for Jet being around, he'd have gotten much worse.

Somach growling, Spike was regretting Jet not getting that donut. _I'm going to have to have a talk with him about that,_ he thought. _When I ask for a donut, I MEAN get me a donut!_ The desk checked out. Looked underneath and inside. It was an older metal desk, the kind you see in schools and cheap offices. He paused to check out some framed photos on the desk. Mary and Hogan, but much younger. Happy. Her hair was shorter then. And brown. Putting the picture back, he wandered over to the cabinets across the room. Opening the doors and rummaging through the contents, Spike idly wondered what Julia was doing right now. Maybe she decided to stay with Vicious instead. No. Couldn't be, she wouldn't do that. Cabinets were clear. 

Heading over to the other end of the office, Spike entered the storage area. He sighed as he surveyed the rows of shelves and cabinets lining the walls. He found an emergency exit at one end, but there was a pile of boxes stacked up in front of it waiting to be unloaded. Safety violation. How long has this shit been sitting here? Spike started searching at the end nearest the emergency exit, hefting the boxes blocking the door which were still sealed. They were mostly filled with reams of paper, paints, glue, glitter and other crap from a local arts and crafts supply center. He opened the boxes anyway to look inside and wasn't suprised to see that they contained exactly what they said they did. One upper shelf was empty, but showed signs of recent use with the lack of dust.

Methodically, he started searching through the packages of diapers, food, cleaning supplies. There was a pleasent smell coming from the cleaning supplies that faded as he moved away from them, the clean smell being replaced by something else. Something familiar...

Moving more quickly now, Spike started sweeping the contents from the shelves. Reaching a cabinet he paused. Pulling open the doors, the smell was much stronger. Yanking boxes of office supplies from the shelves he found what he was looking for. There it was, behind the stationery supplies, cubes of plastic bound together with wires connecting them to a timer that was counting down

5

4

Spike turned and ran, shouting a warning. BOMB!!!!!

2

1

He had gotten nearly to the office's exit when the bomb exploded. Spike was slammed into the wall with bruising force, the heat scorching his back. As he blacked out, he felt the crushing force of rubble falling on him.

***

In shock, Jet and Mary jumped to their feet after the smoke and dust cleared. The children across the street were screaming. Jet shouting frantically, "Spike! SPIKE!!!"

He turned to Mary, "Is there a back exit?" 

Still shocked, "There is, but it's blocked. We got a delivery this morning and the stuff hadn't been put away yet." 

Cursing, Jet ran into the building, ignoring the daycare center's owner's shouts to stop.

The place was full of smoke and dust, fires had broken out everywhere. It was fortunate that the building was mostly brick, but there was plenty of wood used in its construction, not to mention the paper that would be stored in there. Still calling out for his partner, Jet stumbled through the debris looking for any signs of Spike. Tripping over toppled tables, he found the door to the office and stopped stunned.

"Spike!"

His partner was lying motionless on his back on a pile of bricks and file cabinet drawers, head hanging limply. The wall between the office and the storage area had crumpled and fallen on top of him. Part of the roof too from the looks of things! The smoke was thick in here and Jet could barely see that he had one arm free that was hanging limply from the mess. He grabbed the wrist and felt a pulse. _Have to get this shit off him, get him outta here,_ he thought and started digging the brick, wood and office furniture off of him.

Mismatched brown eyes in a dust-covered face fluttered open briefly. "Can't... breathe..." 

"I know partner, I'll get you out of here."

Sirens were heard, growing louder. A section of roof was crushing his chest and abdomen, preventing him from breathing. Spike was trying to cough from the dust and smoke but couldn't take in enough air to expel the irritants. Shit!! There were pieces covering him that Jet couldn't lift on his own. He heard the sound of more debris falling from overhead, so he bent over his partner's face, holding his head, shielding him from the blows of more falling rubble.

Jet yelled out in response to shouts he heard from outside. Men with slickers and hard hats came rushing in. Hoses were deployed to extinguish the flames. The med tech dispatched with the firemen was an older man who looked to have decades of experience. He quickly produced an oxygen mask for Spike to help him breathe while the rubble was lifted off of him. Deftly he checked Spike's vitals. Satisfied that the monitors were in place, he cradled Spike's head in one arm and started talking to him while the others surveyed the situation.

A few of the firemen evaluated the rubble that was covering the young man and decided that among them they should be able to raise it enough for him to be pulled free, Jet lending his back to the effort. There was a large portion of roof on top of him that the four of them strained to lift. It rose enough to allow him to breathe, but the med tech didn't want to pull on Spike because he didn't know the extent of his injuries. Heavy equipment was called for that could lift the debris.

Jet knelt down next to the med tech. "Hang in there, it's gonna be ok." 

Spike's ears were still ringing from the blast, so he had to yell to be heard by his partner. There was a weak response that the med tech didn't understand. He looked at Jet questioningly. Jet chuckled then shouted back at him in the same language then turned to the tech, "He said he really did want the donut."

***

The rubble had been lifted off the bounty hunter, who was eased onto a wooden support. His right leg had been caught in the debris and was bending in places it shouldn't bend. A broken leg, a few cracked ribs, some burns and a LOT of bruises were all he suffered from the blast. The firemen declared that he got off lucky.

Before he was carted off to the hospital, Spike was able to describe the device that he found in the cabinet to the police. The cops that arrived on the scene took his statement and exchanged knowing looks. Jet followed Spike out to the ambulance and watched it leave with his friend inside. Turning to the cops, he asked, "You've heard of this type of device before?" They looked him over dismissively, refusing to discuss it.

Frustrated, Jet hunted for Mary Hogan. He found her across the street with the children, lost in not so pleasant thought. The kids were scared but excited. THIS is going to be one exciting story to tell all their friends about. "You ok?" he asked. 

Broken from her reverie, she responded, "Thank God none of the kids were hurt. How's your friend?"

Jet sighed, "Some burns, bruises and a few broken bones. He'll recover. Who would want to blow up your daycare center?" 

Mary replied saying she didn't know. "What are you going to do now?" he asked. 

Mary sighed, brushing a strand of blond hair from her face, "I'll have to find some place for these kids to go until the center can be rebuilt."

Mary was able to contact the parents of the children in her care, who left work early and came and retrieved their precious offspring. Chatting with Jet, Mary decided he was a good man and appreciated his attention. He bought her lunch and they chatted amiably. It was time for her to head home and Jet wanted to get to the hospital to check on his partner. Mary gave him her phone number, suggesting he call her. Smiling, he left and hailed a cab to take him to the hospital.

He didn't have to wait long before they released Spike to his care. "Stay off the leg, take it easy for the next few weeks," they said handing him medication to take twice a day to speed healing. _Yeah, this stuff and I - we're old friends,_ Spike thought. Jet took him back to the Hammerhead with a pressurised cargo hold where he could lie while he took him back to the Bebop. Gingerly, Spike climbed in and laid down, thinking the hold felt too much like a coffin for comfort. Lying in the hold, Spike could feel the Hammerhead rise up, then hover with some jerks when it clamped onto the Swordfish, then gently carry him back home.

Once the landing bay pressurised, Jet dumped the bag with Spike's clothes on the floor as he hopped out to retrieve his partner from the Hammerhead's hold. The hospital had provided a cane with the scrubs for him to wear, and Spike made use of it while Jet helped him to the couch in the living area. Jet retrieved a blanket from the infirmary and wrapped it about Spike. Easing his partner onto the couch, Jet sat down beside him, sighing. 

After a few moments, Spike spoke, "Who would blow up a daycare center? Why?"

Jet didn't know and at that point didn't care. There was the hospital bill to consider and not having the bounty from Hogan, they had a problem. _Thank God Spike's ok, but how are we gonna pay for this?_

"What's the name of that guy that Hogan was involved with? The one that liked to blow shit up?" Spike was asking. 

Thinking back, Jet admitted to not having the name. "What are you getting at?" he asked.

"Hogan was involved with a gang. Gangs take action like this over money or revenge. Did Hogan owe them money or did he do something that they needed to avenge? And what could he have done for them to take it out on his ex wife's daycare center? Parents, sister, brother or kids, maybe. If he did something, they would go after family. Ex's aren't normally considered family if kids aren't involved. It probably wasn't a random bombing, 'cause Hogan was trying to warn her about danger to the kids."

Jet had to admit he had a point. Checking the time, Jet noted that it was very late in the day. Brown would be off duty by now. He'll call in the morning to see what he can find out. After helping Spike into bed, Jet returned to his own quarters and fell into an uneasy sleep.

***

Rising the next morning, Jet emerged from his quarters and looked around the living area to find it was devoid of life. Stepping down the corridor from his own quarters he peeked into his partner's room to find him sound asleep, snoring softly. After fixing himself some tea, he checked the ISSP database for information about Hogan and the Seventh Ring. Standard stuff, running protection rackets, warfare with rival gangs, loan sharking, robbery, drug dealing, assault. Typical gang activities. They were implicated in several bombings, but nothing proven. Looking at the names of suspected members, he checked for background information and found what looked like a lead. One of the guys, named Grayson, worked construction for several years, specialised in demolition. There was an address given that the ISSP presumed was their favorite hangout. It actually wasn't that far from where Mary Hogan's daycare center was located.

Jet stood and stretched. There wasn't really any point, but they were here. Might as well check it out. Looking in again on Spike, Jet saw that he was still asleep. He watched him for a few minutes, debating. No point disturbing him. I'll probably be back before he wakes up anyway. 

Turning, Jet headed for the Hammerhead. He wanted to check out Grayson. He had to admit he also wanted to see Mary again.

***

It was a sleepless night. Mary was able to locate a replacement facility for Hogan's Ranch, and notified the parents IF they even want to keep their children with me! It's a good thing those bounty hunters showed up when they did. Her insurance was going to cover most of the damage, but she still had debts to pay.

Stepping out of the shower, Mary made herself up for the day, working on her cheerful face for the kids. As she was leaving her phone rang. She was pleased to hear that big bounty hunter's voice on the other end. He wanted to meet with her, where was she going to be? Giving him the address for the new location of the daycare center, she hung up. Her cheerful face was now her real face.

She drove the short distance to her new, temporary daycare center, humming along with the song playing on the radio. The space she found was in a strip mall. It was large enough but she lost all her supplies in the blast, so they'll be playing a lot of games with the kids that day. She hoped nobody called in sick like yesterday. 

Mary parked her car as the first of the parents showed up with her child. She ushered the little one inside exchanging pleasantries with his mom. The day begins. Children were dropped off and immediately began games of their own with each other. 

It was almost lunch time when the front door opened and the big bounty hunter entered. The two smiled at each other. Leaving the kids to her staff, she went over, "So nice to see you! Glad you called." Jet smiled and almost looked like he was blushing. He wanted to make sure she was ok and that everything was under control. She assured him that it was. "How's your friend?" 

Jet chuckled, "Sleeping. He'll probably sleep the whole day if I know him. Listen, I have to ask you..." then he got serious, "Have you ever met any of your ex husband's friends? Specifically, someone named Grayson?" 

Mary stared blankly at him, "The name isn't familiar." Jet looked disappointed, but nodded. She asked, "You think he was involved in what happened yesterday?" Jet said he wasn't sure, was just checking things out.

Using the car he had rented, Jet had swung by the address that was given as the Seventh Ring's favorite location but found nobody there. It had been too early in the day to check out the bars, so he thought he'd visit Mary to see how she was doing. The kids seemed happy enough. They were playing with each other with the staff looking on, discussing the blast from the day before. General consensus was that it was 'cool.'

"How does lunch sound? Can you get away for a little while?" Mary found herself blushing. With a grin, she told him to wait and went over to her staff and told her she was going out for lunch and to hold down the fort.


	4. Chapter 4

Spike awoke with a jerk. He opened his eyes and struggled to make sense of where he was. Small room. A ship. Oh yeah. The pain reminded him of the blast from the day before. _Right. Got blown up yesterday._ He sat up gingerly and rubbed his sore ribs. His right leg was broken in two places, hardware keeping the pieces of bone together so they would heal properly. Fumbling his way out of bed, Spike shook a pill out of the medicine bottle he was given, grabbed his cane and hobbled to the galley where he drew some water to swallow his medication. While there, he found the bread and sandwich fixings in the fridge and made himself something to eat.

"Jet?" 

No answer. He wasn't in his quarters tending his bonsai, not in the living area. He checked the bridge, not there either - and they were still orbiting Europa - and the head was empty. While he was there, Spike decided he should make use of the facilities. 

Just for grins, Spike decided to check the landing bay. Yep, Hammerhead's gone. Spike sighed and headed back to the living area and parked himself on the couch, propping his leg up. He thought about calling Jet to see if they could meet up somewhere, but he dismissed the idea. He knew Jet would tell him to just stay there. 

Leaning heavily on his cane, Spike made his way towards his quarters. He was going to have to get dressed and head down there himself. There was payback to be arranged. Spike pulled out the suit that he favored, grateful that he had picked up a duplicate just before leaving the Red Dragon. Surveying the Swordfish, Spike knew that it was not going to be any kind of fun climbing in and out of her for the trip down to Europa. Turning off the gravity helped him in, but getting out down on the planet would present its own special challenges. Gritting his teeth, Spike toughed out the pain as he took off.

Landing near where he had touched down before, Spike eased his way out of his speeder and limped his way to the location of the daycare center that was blown up the day before. The place was crawling with cops and insurance investigators. With an ingratiating smile, Spike limped up to one of the insurance investigators writing on a clipboard, asking about the bombed-out place's tenant. "I had an appointment this morning to talk about having her watch my nephew. What happened here? Do you know if she has another place?" 

The investigator paused in his writing, looking the young man up and down. His face was innocence itself. "She found a place not far from here. There's a strip mall a few blocks that way," he said jerking his thumb. "I don't know if she'll be able to talk to you about it after what happened, but you can try there."

Thanking him, the young man moved off in the direction of the jerked thumb, leaning heavily on his cane.

Spike was wishing he had brought more analgesics with him, thinking he'll have to pick some up. He hoped there would be a pharmacy in the strip mall where Mary's temporary quarters would be. He found the mall and soon located the temporary daycare center. Entering, he found the rugrats running around screaming. The staffers had their hands full, making sure they didn't kill each other. One of the ladies looked up and recognised him from the day before. Rushing over to him, she asked him if he was ok.

"Yeah. I've had worse," he told her with a smile. He told her he was looking for Mary. 

"Oh she left a few minutes ago for lunch with your friend. She'll be back probably in a half hour or so." 

"Ah. Ok. Thanks, I'll stop back later," he said. 

Spike turned and left. After he had gotten halfway to the pharmacy, he noticed that there was a teen on his tail. He turned his head slightly and could see a kid who looked to be about fourteen years old following him. _That's right. He was in the daycare center helping out with the kids._

***

Todd Powers was not a popular person, being small of stature and not at all fit. While not exactly homely, his features were average to plain. He looked up from watching the kids when this stranger entered and started asking questions. _Yeah, he was here yesterday! He was caught in the explosion!_ He thought this tall, thin stranger was the most beautiful, exotic creature he had ever seen and he wanted to know more about him. Todd left the daycare center's temporary quarters and followed him out. Even leaning on a cane the stranger carried himself carelessly, but he could see a grace and power in him and he wanted to know his secret.

The stranger turned and faced him directly. The teen blushed. "I'm sorry. I saw you there yesterday. I know you were caught in that explosion. Glad you're ok."

"Thanks!" Smile. 

Todd could feel himself blushing again. Stammering, all he could think of to say was, "What was that like?" 

"It was loud," the stranger responded dryly.

To his horror, Todd could feel himself freezing up. The stranger said, "If you'll excuse me, I need to hit up the pharmacy for some analgesics. Nice chattin' with ya." He started limping away. 

"Wait!" Spike stopped, turning again to look at the teen on his heels. 

"My name's Todd."

"Spike," he said. 

Even his NAME is cool! Todd looked about and found a bench outside the hairdresser's shop and asked Spike if he wanted to sit down. Glancing at it, Spike looked back at him. "Yeah, good idea." 

Spike's leg was killing him, and the bruises, burns and cracked ribs weren't helping either. After settling himself down, he shook a cigarette out of his pack and lit up. Blowing smoke, he waited to hear what the teen wanted. He'd seen kids like him when he was in school. Never really bothered with them though and he found himself wondering if that was a mistake. Todd sat down beside him.

"So you were there yesterday, when the place blew up," he said blowing smoke. 

Todd nodded. "Yeah! Holy crap, that was something. Never seen anything like that in my life!" 

_No kid, I don't imagine you have,_ Spike thought to himself.

"You been working here long?" Spike asked, not sure what he was getting at, but he needed to sit. The discomfort was getting almost unbearable.

"Just for this past semester, about four months. We don't have classes this week, so I've been working there most of the day." Todd said. He almost couldn't believe such a cool being was even talking to him, much less asking about him. "Plus, I took most of the classes I had to take early on. Now I have most of my days free and this is something to do until my parents get home from work." 

Spike nodded, smiling. "Kids WILL keep you busy, won't they? Ever see anything odd while working here? Any strange people talking to Mrs Hogan?"

"There were always people coming and going, probably looking for some place to stash the kids while they're at work, you know? There was just this one guy who kept coming around. He smiled and all, but it wasn't at all nice. Mrs Hogan tried to hide it, but she was always upset when he left."

Now interested, Spike asked him, "Oh yeah? Ever hear what he said to her? What do you remember about him?"

Todd didn't know, he just heard 'woolongs' being mentioned. "The guy was talking about money. I never heard anything specific, they were pretty careful that nobody heard them. He was also talking to her about her ex husband. I think he knew him. Oh yeah. I think he worked for a delivery company, 'cause he wore a type of uniform. It was light blue with a patch on the chest - 'Europa Parcel Service' it said. Do you think he had anything to do with that bomb yesterday?"

Spike just shrugged, "Just making conversation."

Spike asked him if he ever heard the guy's name. All Todd could tell him was that it was "Gray-something." Hmm.

Todd fell silent. He was awkward in social situations and he ran out of things to tell Spike. He didn't want him to leave and struggled to find more to talk to him about. Fortunately for him, Spike broke the silence, "So how old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen? Got any plans on what to do with your life?" Spike suddenly wasn't interested in doing any more walking - or hobbling - now that he was sitting. A nap right here, right now would be perfect, he thought.

Todd told him he didn't have any plans. Didn't know what he would do, what he WANTED to do. He just wanted to be SOMEBODY, but didn't know how. He wasn't sure if it was a burst of confidence or if it was Spike's manner that put him at ease, but he found himself blurting out, "I just wanna be cool. I want to be someone people can like and respect. Like you. I wanna be like you. I want to BE you!" 

Spike looked at him sharply. "No you DON'T. Don't want to be anyone other than yourself. There's only room in this world for one Spike and one Todd. Just be Todd." He wants to be ME? No way, the price is too high.

Todd was crestfallen. Spike draped his arm over the back of the bench behind Todd and told him it was going to be ok. He really needed the analgesics but didn't want to get up. At this point the cane wasn't helping. Blowing smoke, he asked the kid what he did in his free time. 

Shrug. "Not much of anything. Don't know what I'm interested in." 

"Ever think about martial arts? There are schools practically everywhere. It's good exercise, and you learn discipline and how to protect yourself and others." He paused. "It's a great confidence-booster too." 

Todd considered this. He hadn't thought of martial arts.

"Spike!" Jet and Mary had just returned from their lunch, Jet gaping with surprise at seeing Spike there. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too."

Jet made a disgusted noise. Mary's eyes widened, "Should you be up and about?" 

Spike smiled sardonically at her around his cigarette. "I got bored. Nobody to play with up on the ship."

Shaking her head, Mary thanked Jet for the lunch and hoped they could chat again soon. Motioning for Todd to come with her, she headed back to work. Reluctantly Todd followed, casting a lingering glance back at Spike, who waved. Jet stood, hands on hips surveying his crazy partner. Spike was sitting there, seemingly enjoying his cigarette, not a care in the world. Jet shook his head and sat down beside him in the spot Todd just vacated. 

"What's the matter with you? I thought you'd be back on the Bebop, sleeping. Didn't the doctor tell you to stay off that leg and take it easy?"

"I don't listen. Did you find out anything at your lunch?"

Surprised, "No. It was just a lunch. I was checking out a lead and had some time and thought I'd take her for lunch."

Spike didn't even try to hide the smile, "I may have something. That kid I was just talking to said that Mary had this guy visiting her a number of times over the past few months. Said she would be upset when he left, he was talking to her about money. Name was Gray-something. Ring any bells?"

Jet froze. "Grayson?" 

Spike shrugged, "Possibly."

"Hmmmm." Jet fished out a cigarette of his own and lighted it. "It would make sense. Grayson is a member of that gang Hogan ran with. Used to be a construction worker. Demolitions." 

"Well now he seems to be working for a delivery service, 'Europa Parcel Service'. At least he was wearing their uniform when he'd visit."

Jet stared at him, "How did you get this information?" 

Spike shrugged, "Kids like to talk, what can I say?"

Jet sighed, running his hand over his head. Looks like Mary's involved with this guy too in some way. "Let me check it out. YOU are going back to the Bebop and take it easy. I can manage this, been doing it for years. Not that I don't need you, but I can handle this. You need to rest." 

Spike nodded, "Got any analgesics on ya?"

***

Jet ran into the pharmacy and picked up what Spike needed. He took the analgesics with thanks, then Jet loaded him into the rental car and drove him back to the Swordfish. Shaking his head, he helped Spike into the pod, "You know how to turn off the gravity, right? That should make it easier for you to get out of the pod and into the living area. Keep off that leg." Jet managed to resist the urge to shake his finger at him.

Feeling better now, Spike nodded, "Yes, mom." 

"Seeya later." Jet waited until the swordfish had taken off, taking Spike back to the Bebop. As soon as he was out of sight, he checked the GPS in the car and looked up the address for the Europa Parcel Service. It was halfway across town. Sighing, he started his rented car and sped off to the delivery company's address.

Spike flew off towards the Bebop, thinking. _This is where I get myself into trouble._ He performed his own search using his speeder's onboard computer.


	5. Chapter 5

_Was Grayson going after Mary for money that her ex husband owed him? Or did she owe him?_ Jet didn't like either question or where his thoughts were taking him. Wanting to give Mary the benefit of the doubt, Jet thrust those thoughts aside as he pulled into the parking lot. It was late in the day, so the drivers should be getting back to the office. Jet walked in, trying to think of what he was going to say.

The place was empty with an unmanned counter across from the door. Trying to peer through a doorway into the back, Jet cleared his throat loudly, hoping to get someone's attention. A young lady emerged from the back room and asked if he was being helped. 

Jet smiled, "Hi there. I need to speak to one of your drivers, the name's Grayson. We have a mutual friend who wanted me to give him a message and said this would be the best place to find him. Is he in?" 

The young lady checked a terminal at the desk, "He just made his last delivery and is on his way back now. Should be about fifteen minutes. Did you care to wait?" Jet smiled and indicated that he would. 

There was a bench at one end of the public area, so Jet had a seat. He was getting a sinking feeling about Mary. He didn't know anything about her other than she was divorced from the bounty that died on them, and she ran a daycare center. _Women. Can't trust 'em. When will I learn?_ He looked around and not seeing any signs forbidding it, he lit a cigarette, still thinking. _Spike. Great kid. Talented as hell, but what an idiot._ Jet couldn't believe he'd leave the relative comfort of the Bebop to ask questions in his condition. _He SAID he didn't listen. Yeah, he was right. I'm going to have to call him later, make sure he made it home ok. Next time I'll just cuff him to the railing._

"Yeah? What can I do for you?" 

Jet looked up to see Grayson standing over him, arms folded. Brown hair, approaching middle age, a bit on the pudgy side, Grayson was something less than an imposing figure. 

Jet smiled and rose, facing him, "I have a message from a mutual friend. It's private, can we step outside?" 

Sighing, Grayson turned and headed out the exit, Jet following close behind. Grayson was trying to think if he'd seen this man before. He'd be a hard one to forget with that mechanical arm, scarred face and that metal bracket screwed into his cheek. The guy's massive too. Even without the hardware, he'd be someone you'd remember seeing.

Grayson turned. "Ok, what is it? Who's the friend?"

Jet found himself blurting out, "Mary Hogan."

Laughter, "What's the message? She's already gotten hers." 

Jet laughed with him, lighting a cigarette. "That may be. There's only one problem. You were clumsy and left evidence behind. I've got it. Could be trouble for you." He shook his head, flicking ashes, "Blowing up a daycare center. Must be desperate times."

Grayson hesitated. He WAS careful, but what could this big guy have? 

"So, what's the message?" 

Blowing smoke, Jet replied, "She's on to you." 

There was a blank stare in return. "I'm gonna go now, thanks for the message." Grayson turned to leave. Jet followed.

Panicking, Grayson started to run. He didn't know what this big guy had on him, but he looked like trouble. Jet was in hot pursuit. Grayson turned down a side street that turned out to be a dead end. There was no scaling the wooden fence at the end of the block, so he whirled around, swinging at the big guy who was close behind him. His fist connected, sending him reeling. Swinging again, he knocked the big guy down. 

Jet's head was spinning, opened his eyes to see Grayson pointing a gun at him, then heard the gunshot that echoed off the walls of the buildings on either side of the street. To his amazement, Grayson's gun was on the street a few yards away, his hand bleeding. Stunned, he turned and looked behind him to see a familiar figure balanced on one leg, gun in hand.

"Spike! What the hell are YOU doing here?" 

"Nice to see you too."

Gun shifted to his left hand, the young man limped his way into the block, leaning heavily on his cane. Cigarette dangling from his lips, he said, "So you're Grayson, mad bomber." 

"Who the hell are YOU?" Grayson was shouting. "What do you guys want?"

Spike held his gun on Grayson while Jet regained his footing, scooping up Grayson's gun. Spike let Jet do the talking.

"Ok, you just bombed a daycare center yesterday. Why would you do that? Did she owe you money? Did her ex husband do something?" 

Grayson admitted to nothing. Cursing himself for panicking, he decided his best strategy was to keep his mouth shut.

Jet heard a heavy sigh coming from behind him.

Thwack!!

The shoulder of Grayson's shirt was suddenly affixed to the fence behind him by a six inch blade that had been thrown. 

"Shit, I missed. Must be getting rusty." Spike approached the man with some difficulty. "See... I was in the daycare center when you blew it up. Cracked some ribs, got burned, HELL of a lot of bruises. Oh yeah, my leg is broken in two places. It hurts like fucking hell. Needless to say, I'm not really happy with you right now."

Thwack!!

Grayson was still gawking at the blade in his shirt when the second blade scraped the tip of his nose, embedding itself in the fence. 

Suppressing his shock and admiration, Jet just smirked at the bomber in front of him. "Are you SURE you don't want to tell us what's going on?" He glanced over to his scowling partner, who was balanced on his left leg, handle of the cane draped over the left arm which was holding the gun, another knife being tossed end to end in his right hand. Oh yeah, he's pissed.

The analgesics were working, but the bomber didn't need to know that, Spike decided. "So what's it gonna be? You think I'm gonna keep missing you? I'm in a lot of pain from that blast, and it's REALLY pissing me off!" He wound up for a back handed throw.

Thwack!!

Now the man's collar was pinned to the fence. Grayson was sweating bullets. He'd never met anyone like this steel-hard furious creature before, and he decided he wanted no part of this kid. This kid meant business, and the big guy was making no moves to stop him - in fact he seemed to be enjoying it. Who ARE these people??? 

Spike had pulled out yet another knife and was tossing it carelessly, scowling at the bomber who cried out, "OK OK!" 

"Go ahead, we're listening."

"The daycare center is a front. We were using it for distributing bloody eye. It was working too, 'till the bitch started skimming the profits. She has a gambling problem and owed us bocoup woolongs. I tried to get the money back that she skimmed, but the bitch wouldn't pay up. That bomb was set to scare her. This was our last resort. We wanted the place knocked down, but never intended anyone to be seriously hurt. It was a warning. That's all, I swear!"

The two bounty hunters listened in shock. Spike snorted scornfully, Fucking amateurs!

Jet pulled out his communicator and called his friend, Jack Brown. Gave him their location and let him know he had the bomber that destroyed the daycare center.

***

Grayson spilled his guts to the cops. Those guys who cornered him - especially that kid with the knives - convinced him that he was out of his league. He was the final piece in the puzzle that would shut down the Seventh Ring for good, AND their front operations. Being syndicate wannabes without the experience or backing of a real syndicate to provide guidance, they made some bad mistakes and will now pay the price.

The bounty hunters were there in front of the daycare center when Mary Hogan and her three staffers were led out in handcuffs. Parents had been called by the police to pick up their children, as the center was closing indefinitely. Mary and Jet locked eyes briefly as she was loaded into the squad car to be hauled off to jail. Jet sighed and turned away. Spike saw Todd standing there watching, at a loss. This was his job when he was out of school, and he seemed to enjoy it and now it was gone. Breaking away from Jet, Spike hobbled over to him.

Todd looked up in surprise and delight when he found Spike standing beside him. 

"Yo," Spiked said. 

Todd grinned, "Yo." 

"You gonna be ok?" he asked. 

Todd smiled happily. "Yeah! I thought about what you said. There is a school that teaches Kung Fu near where I live. My parents said I could go, and they'll even PAY for it!" 

Spike nodded, "It's hard work, but stick with it. You'll be amazed at what you can get out of it. Get good enough and maybe you can teach it. Or it might show you something else you're interested in that you can pursue. Just stick with it."

Todd sighed sadly. "I'm gonna miss these kids. They'll probably be scattered among all the daycare centers that are out there. I may never see them again." That's life, Spike thought.

Spike rejoined Jet. He went with him as he turned in his rental car, a taxi taking them to their ships. Spike had parked his Swordfish near the Hammerhead. Jet shook his head in amazement. Turning to his partner he said, "WHY didn't you go back to the Bebop like you said you would? 

"Like I said. I don't listen."

Shaking his head again, he grabbed his partner affectionately by the scruff of the neck, "You know what?" He smiled, "... I'm awfully glad you're here."

The two bounty hunters climbed into their craft and left Europa to head back to their home. Jet took that opportunity to lecture his young friend on the importance of following doctors' orders and taking care of himself. Spike for his part wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention.


End file.
